Month: March 2018

Here’s where construction stands on the massive Miami Worldcenter

The $2 billion Miami Worldcenter project will create its own mini Miami skyline when it’s done. The development, spearheaded by Art Falcone and Nitin Motwani, will include a street retail component, along with an office tower, two apartment buildings and the Marriott Marquis convention center in partnership with the MDM Group. Construction of the mega project’s crown jewel, the 60-story Paramount…

Massive downtown Miami site hits market — again — for $125 million

A development site in downtown Miami is back on the market with a big price tag. The 2.52-acre property at 251 Flagler Street is asking $125 million, according to Dwntwn Realty Advisors’ Devlin Marinoff, Tony Arellano and Skyler Marinoff. The firm is marketing the property as Flagler City Center, and can be developed into up to 4 million square feet and 2,500 residential units, according to a release. It’s also…

A mixed-use project is proposed for a formerly contaminated 18-acre site in North Miami Beach

A vacant property in North Miami Beach at 15680 West Dixie Highway could undergo a major transformation. The Real Deal Miami reports on the master plan for New North Town Center — a mixed-use project with 1,650 apartments, 175,000 square feet of retail, 150,000 square feet of office space, a hotel, and a school — proposed for an approximately…

Downtown Development Authority’s Biscayne Green wilts in Tallahassee

For Miami’s Downtown Development Authority, results of this year’s Florida legislative session could be summed up by the phrase “so near, yet so far away.” Board members learned at their March 16 meeting that Biscayne Green, an audacious plan to create a “grand boulevard” on Biscayne Boulevard by replacing parking and traffic lanes with public spaces, had been awarded $1 million in the 2018-19…

Check out Flagler City Center, a 2.52-acre development site in downtown Miami 

DWNTWN Realty Advisors is bringing to market this high-density site for $125 million A full city block in downtown Miami is on the market. DWNTWN Realty Advisors is bringing Flagler City Center, a 2.52 acre site downtown at 251 Flagler Street, to market with an asking price of $125 million. The Flagler City Center site can accommodate up to 4 million square feet of buildable area and up to 2,500…

Miami’s hotel market got a boost from hurricane-damaged competitors. Will that continue?

Miami’s hotel market experienced a rise in occupancy over the last six months following devastating hurricanes that tore through the Keys and the Caribbean, rendering those destinations off limits to vacationers. An analysis from hotel research firm STR tracked that growth from September through February, looking at occupancy, revenue per available room and demand. And as those storm-battered islands…

Miami-Dade proposes two projects with teacher housing

Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the county’s housing department are proposing a new kind of mixed-use development for Miami.
The school system and housing department are proposing a middle school with apartments for teachers as part of Southside Elementary’s expansion in the Brickell area. The mid-rise building would have residential units on the ground floor and classrooms above. The school …

Chinese investment in US real estate fell 55% in 2017

Chinese investment in U.S. commercial real estate registered a jaw-dropping 55 percent decline in 2017, a result of tighter capital controls imposed by the Chinese government, increased regulatory scrutiny and more attractive opportunities in other countries, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield released this morning. While experts had expected a sharp decline, the numbers reveal that the bottom…

Developer in contract to buy Coral Gables site of planned condo project

Coconut Grove-based Location Ventures is under contract to purchase a Coral Gables rental complex for $16 million where the firm plans to build a boutique condo project. Villa Valencia, a 13-story, 39-unit condo building, would be built on the property at 501-525 Valencia Avenue, replacing low-rise apartment buildings built in the 1950s, Location Ventures CEO Rishi Kapoor told the South Florida Business…

Miami-Dade officials propose building apartments for teachers on school grounds

That’s one idea for affordable housing When you were in elementary school, did you ever imagine that your teacher lived at school? That could actually be a reality in Miami. The Miami Herald’s Douglas Hanks reports on an interesting idea to create more affordable housing In Miami-Dade county by building apartments right on school grounds. There’s a proposal in its preliminary stages to build a middle…

Micro units are good for Seattle but not Miami: Eden Multifamily’s Jay Jacobson

Don’t count developer Jay Jacobson among the multifamily developers catching onto the micro unit wave. “I’m not a big fan of solving affordability issues by cramming people into glorified hotel rooms,” Eden Multifamily’s president said during a Miami Finance Forum event on Friday. “I apologize to anyone in that business or [who] invested in it. If you…

Moishe Mana buys more office condos at 100 East Flagler

Moishe Mana dropped nearly $5 million on office units at 100 East Flagler Street, adding to his holdings at the downtown Miami office building. Mana paid $4.75 million for more than 25,600 square feet of office space on floors 2, 3, 8 and 9 at the 10-story Wells Fargo building. Popular Condo No. 3 LLC, led by Abraham Franco, sold the units. Mika Mattingly and Linn Ahsberg of Colliers International…

Israeli investor buys Miami apartment building

Miami-based Bar Invest Group just sold an apartment building in Miami’s Upper East Side to Israeli-born real estate investor Yoram Izhak. Izhak, co-founder and CEO of IMC Equity Group, paid about $5.6 million, or $124,000 per unit, for the 45-unit building at 8000 Northeast Bayshore Court. He financed the deal with a nearly $4 million mortgage from Banco Popular, according to property records.

Major mixed-use project planned for North Miami Beach’s West Dixie Highway

North Miami Beach planners on Thursday got their first look at a master plan for New North Town Center, slated to be built on a nearly 18-acre site on West Dixie Highway between 155th Street and 163rd Street. The property, which is mostly vacant, has been lying idle for at least four or five years, according to Justin Proffitt, North Miami Beach’s planning and zoning director. In the next few years, New North…

Video: Elevator technology is revolutionizing vertical travel as supertalls abound

Over the next two years alone, there are 187 skyscrapers that are expected to pop up across the globe. This fascinating video goes in depth on the go-to technologies that are being engineered by some of the world’s leading elevator firms. This touches on some of the topics in a recent report by Bloomberg, Supertalls are Driving an Elevator Revolution, which examined new technologies addressing…

Court battle ensues after “bizarre” death of real estate exec Andrea Greenberg

The death of Andrea Greenberg last October was declared an opioid overdose, as The Real Deal reported, however, her friends and sister remain suspicious over the circumstances, particularly in light of an ensuing legal battle with Greenberg’s long-time partner, Alejandro Aparicio. According to court documents, Aparicio allegedly withdrew $10,000 from Greenberg’s bank account the day she died and had…

Billionaire bailout: Issac Larian tries one last time to save Toys ‘R’ Us

After Toys ‘R’ Us threw in the towel and announced it would close all 735 American stores, billionaire Issac Larian has come up with a last-ditch effort to save some of the toy retailer’s stores. He’s bringing $100 million of his personal funds, according to Bloomberg, and he’s also launched a GoFundMe campaign to garner external funds, which has currently…

EB-5 program extended through September

The EB-5 visa program is sticking around, though there are mixed feelings about the how. The program, which allows foreign investors to obtain a green card if they put $500,000 into job-creating projects, will remain in place until September 30, thanks to its inclusion in the spending bill Congress passed yesterday as Mansion Global reports. Known to some as the “crack cocaine of real estate financing,” the…

Video: Mitch Roschelle and David Leavitt of PwC Trump Effect on Economy and Real Estate via PwC

Mitch Roschelle and David Leavitt with global accounting and professional service company PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) join host Michael Bull on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss President Trump’s effect on commercial real estate and the economy overall. They discuss a number of topics including trends in the economic outlook, interest rate changes, tax reform impacts, including…

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Sunny Isles Beach is halfway to the top

Check out the construction video Oceanfront tower Ritz-Carlton Residences, Sunny Isles Beach just hit a big construction milestone: it surpassed its halfway point and is now up to 28 of 52 full stories. The building is on-schedule for next year’s projected delivery date and it recently recorded seven sales in a span of 45 days for a total of $24 million in sales. The tower’s curvilinear silhouette designed by…

Checking in on Park Grove: One Park Grove breaks ground

This is the third and final residential tower in Coconut Grove designed by OMA/Rem Koolhaas Here’s a construction update on Park Grove, the ultra-luxurious residential development in Coconut Grove designed by the starchitect team of OMA/Rem Koolhaas. The development’s first two towers are slated for completion in early summer. Now developers Terra Group and The Related Group just…

Flagstone Island Gardens can develop on Watson Island, judge rules

Mehmet Bayraktar, the Turkish developer behind a long-stalled $1 billion mega-yacht marina and resort project on Watson Island, just won a major court victory that will allow his firm to continue building the development. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William Thomas on Thursday ruled in favor of Bayraktar’s Flagstone Island Gardens LLC on all counts related to lawsuits he filed last year against the city of…

South Florida by the numbers: Pushing back the rising sea

The facts can no longer be denied: sea levels are rising, and South Florida is becoming more vulnerable to flooding with each passing year. With a population that continues to grow by roughly 8 percent each year, expanded commercial and residential real estate and the annual threat of hurricanes, the challenges facing our region are significant. A recent report from…

Who needs parking? Wynwood developers want new rules to encourage small projects

A proposal to boost development of small-scale warehouses similar to the ones that made Wynwood into a mecca for creative types would allow single lot owners to redevelop their properties into one-story buildings and forgo on-site parking requirements with payments to a neighborhood parking fund. The board of directors for the Wynwood Business Improvement District — an organization…

Publix: Where Real Estate Investing is a Pleasure

Publix Super Markets isn’t just one of the nation’s top grocery chains, it’s also becoming a major real estate investor, buying up its own stores and self-anchored shopping centers when they hit the market. The Lakeland, FL-based retailer has been steadily increasing its ownership of retail real estate and currently owns 371 of its 1,167 stores, or nearly a third, according to the company’s 2017 annual report.

David Beckham’s team goes back to the drawing board for MLS stadium location

More than five sites are in consideration After zeroing in on Overtown and considering Melreese golf course, David Beckham and his partners in Miami’s new MLS team are broadening their search for a stadium location. “We’re actively looking at five or so sites,” MLS Miami partner Jorge Mas told the Miami Herald. “There are a handful of sites that are interesting.” Mas declined to confirm individual…

EB-5 gets yet another six-month extension

The EB-5 visa program, heavily favored by New York developers as a way of raising cheap capital overseas, is headed toward another six-month extension. The so-called “clean” extension does not include changes backed by Sen. Chuck Grassley, a staunch critic of the program, which gives green cards to foreign investors in exchange for a $500,000 investment. Language extending EB-5 through…

Floval Oil pays $6M for Hialeah Executive Motel

A Miami investor just paid $6 million for the Hialeah Executive Motel, property records show. Fraymond Corp and Merco Corp., led by Mercy Posada, sold the motel at 131 Okeechobee Road, as well as adjacent land to Orestes Flores’ Floval Oil Corp. Floval owns a few other sites in Miami-Dade, and sold 15 gas stations to Sunshine Gasoline Distributors in 2015 for about $24 million. Fraymond and Merco sold…

Here are the new sites Beckham group is reportedly eyeing for $200M soccer stadium

The Hialeah Park Casino at 2200 e 4th Avenue, a Pepsi distribution center in Doral, the Melreese golf course and a truck depot near Jackson Memorial Hospital are among the sites David Beckham and his partners are now considering…  Overtown, which has been the site since 2015, is still a possibility. Beckham’s group owns 6 acres of land at 650 nw 8th Street that it purchased for $19 million in 2016…

Crescent Heights close to deal with school board to build mixed-use tower in Miami’s A&E district, could lead to large-scale redevelopment

A Miami-Dade School Board vote regarding the sale of a parking lot could lead to Crescent Heights’ dramatic redevelopment of a large swath of land in Miami’s Arts and Entertainment District. The school board on Wednesday authorized Superintendent Alberto Carvalho to negotiate a deal with 1370 NE 2nd LLC, an affiliate of Crescent Heights, to develop a mixed-use tower on the 49,075-square-foot surface…

Steel prices climb nationwide as real estate industry braces for tariffs

President Trump’s controversial tariffs on steel and aluminum imports haven’t taken effect yet but they are already having an impact on commercial real estate across the country. Steel prices have climbed around 10 percent nationwide as the construction industry prepares for Friday’s change, according to the National Real Estate Investor. Trump announced the 25 percent tax on foreign steel and 10 percent…

Another Big Industrial Lease Signed in Medley

Airport North Logistics Park in Medley, FL is filling up fast. Marine Harvest USA has signed a lease for 106,000 square feet at the park, located east of NW 87th Avenue and NW 80th Street. in the Miami Airport North Industrial submarket. The seafood supplier will more than double its space when it relocates from 8550 NW 17th St. in Doral. The first phase of Airport North consists of four buildings…

Miami bridge collapse underscores dangers of defects

When a defect – or defects – is present in a construction project, the potential liability for a developer or contractor can be enormous. Simply mitigating a defect can result in a seven or eight figure price tag for parties involved in the project. In cases where personal injury or death result from a design or construction defect, which can also be an indication of professional malpractice, the legal and financial…

Fed raises short-term interest rates; signals more hikes on horizon

The Federal Reserve voted to raise short-term interest rates by a quarter of a percent, citing a strong economy, and signaled more hikes were on the horizon this year. The Fed’s decision to raise its benchmark rate to between 1.5 and 1.75 percent came Wednesday, during its first meeting led by new Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Officials planned three rate increases for 2018, but it seems…

SoFla lease roundup: Salmon distributor inks lease in Medley & more

Salmon company inks 106,000 sf lease in Medley. The Airport North Logistics Park in Medley just reeled in a big fish. The salmon distributor Marine Harvest US just inked a build-to-suit, 106,000-square-foot lease in a building under construction at the park.
The company will be moving out from its current Doral location to the property located just east of Northwest 87th Avenue and off…

Former NFL Linebacker-Turned-Radiologist Opening Medical Marijuana Clinic in Wynwood

The career path of Dr. Hervé Damas has been unorthodox. He has been a linebacker for the Buffalo Bills, a professor… Now he’s taking his expertise to Wynwood, where he’ll open a clinic offering cannabis evaluations and CBD products. He says Grassroots Medicine & Wellness Center, which will be located at 2328 N Miami Avenue, is expected to open by May 1 as the bustling neighborhood’s first marijuana clinic.

MDX Dolphin Expressway Project Is Opening Avenues To The Future

The world is changing faster than ever. Consider just one of the global megatrends that is challenging highway transportation experts: the population of the world’s urban areas is increasing by 200,000 people per day – all of whom demand fast and easy ways to get between point A to B within their respective metropolitan areas. The post MDX Dolphin Expressway Project Is Opening Avenues To The Future…

Over the next two years alone, there are 187 skyscrapers that are expected to pop up across the globe. This fascinating video goes in depth on the go-to technologies that are being engineered by some of the world’s leading elevator firms. This touches on some of the topics in a recent report by Bloomberg, Supertalls are Driving an Elevator Revolution, which examined new technologies addressing speed, capacity and, in some cases, direction in skyscrapers of the future. Cool stuff.

Mitch Roschelle and David Leavitt with global accounting and professional service company PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) join host Michael Bull on America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss President Trump’s effect on commercial real estate and the economy overall. They discuss a number of topics including trends in the economic outlook, interest rate changes, tax reform impacts, including pass-through deductions and entities, employment changes, trade policies impacting GDP, and tariffs.

Parent company to close 7 Winn-Dixie supermarkets in South Florida

The parent company of Winn-Dixie will close 30 of the supermarket operator’s stores in Florida, including seven in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Southeastern Grocers, which is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month, announced Thursday that it will “voluntarily implement a court-supervised, prepackaged restructuring agreement.” The restructuring will involve the shutdown of 94…

Big Swath Of Winn-Dixies Shuttering In Parent Company Bankruptcy

A Jacksonville-based grocer will be shuttering almost 100 underperforming stores — including a large number of Winn-Dixie-branded locations — as it strives to re-emerge from bankruptcy. Southeastern Grocers announced that it has entered into Chapter 11 bankruptcy to “voluntarily implement a court-supervised, prepackaged restructuring agreement that will force the operator to close 94 stores in its…

Who’s Going to Move Into the Hundreds of Empty Toys ‘R’ Us Stores?

The collapse of Toys “R” Us Inc. is yet another blow for landlords, who now will have gaping holes of suburban retail space up for grabs. And few tenants would want them. The debt-laden toy chain, with more than 700 stores across the U.S., became one of the largest victims of the retail decline when it announced on Thursday that it would go out of business after a failed rescue effort. The liquidation could…

Coconut Grove Master Implementation Plan Released

Among the objectives of the plan are: pedestrian and bicycle friendly environment; either Commodore or Fuller St can be closed as a pedestrian St, which can have arts installed and widen sidewalk; store frontage improvement; solar smart benches is recommended on Grand Ave; no parallel parking on McFarlane; no parallel parking on Main Hwy and widen the sidewalk; propose a outdoor theater in…

National Real Estate Investor on Bal Harbour Shops: Only For the Rich, and It’s Doing Just Fine

At the northern tip of Miami Beach’s famed barrier island, atop what was once a tangle of mangrove-filled swamps, sits a three-story, 466,000-square-foot sanctum for the super-rich. A pair of models dressed in beige linen outfits strut silently past onlookers like a wandering catwalk ad. Outside, shoppers shell out $30 for valet parking and the right to show off their supercars near the main entryway.

Here’s more proof that Miami is becoming a fashion capital

Milan-based Istituto Marangoni opens a campus in the Miami Design District Watch out New York: here’s more proof that Miami is becoming a fashion powerhouse. Leaders at Milan-based fashion and design school Istituto Marangoni chose Miami’s Design District for the school’s very first U.S. outpost. “My first choice for Istituto Marangoni’s inaugural U.S. campus was Miami because of its growing…

Lawsuits reveal cost to rent retail space at Brickell City Centre

Curious to know how far rents reach in one of Miami’s newest luxury retail centers? Lawsuits filed by Brickell City Centre show the price is upwards of $130 per square foot. Over the past year, the mall operator, Brickell City Centre Retail LLC, has filed lawsuits against Koko & Palenki and BDBA. In both cases the lawsuits sought to collect unpaid rent after the stores closed, according to The Next Miami.

Condo developers are plotting the future of Miami’s skyline

From TRD Miami’s spring issue: With more than four years’ supply of luxury condos for sale, it’s plain to most people in the real estate community that the market does not need any more condo projects. Developers have no choice but to hope their existing projects inch closer to selling out while they toil away on plans designed for a better market in the future. Many are now plotting the next batch of…

Video: ArborCrowd Co-Founder Adam Kaufman on Commercial Real Estate CrowdFunding

Adam Kaufman, co-founder and managing director at ArborCrowd, a company that enables people to co-invest with successful real estate deal-makers in the industry, joins Michael Bull on his America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss crowdfunding for commercial real estate in 2018. They discuss reasons to use crowdfunding, investor management, some benefits of using ArborCrowd, what the process…

New projects adorn Biscayne Bay at Edgewater

New projects adorn Biscayne Bay at Edgewater. As six developments take a step toward completion, some locals wonder when more goods and services will also follow the real estate boom into the area. Jaret Turkell understands the growing appeal with the area. Mr. Turkell, the managing director at Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, said, “Location-wise it’s closest to some of the hottest neighborhoods in…

Demolition spotted at Arquitectonica’s Babylon Apartments

This will be sad for fans of this circa-1982 building Look away, fans of Arquitectonica’s first building: The Next Miami spotted that demolition is in progress on the iconic Brickell building. Miami commissioners voted in January to overturn the building’s protected architectural landmark status. Photos on the blog show the building looking out of sorts, and The Next Miami reports that a Notice of…

Sandor Scher on his grand plan for North Beach

Sandor Scher is looking to bring the magic back to North Beach. After a contentious campaign to upzone part of the quiet Miami Beach neighborhood failed in 2015, Scher and his business partner, Alex Blavatnik, went back to the drawing board and redesigned the $220 million beachfront, mixed-use development planned for Ocean Terrace. Scher is now fully embracing the neighborhood’s history.

Sam Zell describes retail real estate as a “falling knife”

Retail’s well-publicized struggles are still far from over, according to Sam Zell. The chairman of Equity International Group and Equity Residential discussed the state of the industry Tuesday morning on Bloomberg Daybreak, where he described retail as “still a falling knife.” The United States has more retail per population than any other country, which has led to “an enormous number of obsolete shopping…

High Street Retail Continues to Battle Vacancies, Falling Rents

The tony retail districts in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco offer the best in luxury retail. But after years of getting prestige brands to agree to double-digit increases in rents, landlords on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, Chicago’s Michigan Avenue and San Francisco’s Union Square are in their second year of double-digit declines in asking rents. In San Francisco, where well-heeled shoppers stroll Union…

Is EB-5, the ‘crack cocaine of real estate financing,’ here to stay?

Based on recent headlines, it might sound like the EB-5 visa program is akin to a kiss of death for some developers. In January, it became known that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating Kushner Companies’ use of the EB-5 program following a fundraising trip to China last May. At the time, Nicole Kushner Meyer name-dropped her brother in the White House, Jared Kushner

Q&A: Miami’s Wynwood ‘Had That Special Sauce’

The founder and CEO of the Metro 1 brokerage was one of the first investors in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, buying an eight-unit apartment building on 27th Street in 2003. “It was a blighted, post-industrial warehouse district with neglected and abandoned textile buildings with tenants paying very low rents in very bad conditions,” he recalls. Plenty has changed in the past 15 years. The 50-block…

Residences by Armani/Casa is halfway to the top

Check out the construction in this drone video Residences by Armani/Casa, the luxury tower designed by starchitect Cesar Pelli with interiors from fashion designer Giorgio Armani, just hit its halfway point. Curbed Miami’s been tracking this 56-story, 649-foot tall modern glass tower since the building’s concrete was poured, and last week, the Sunny Isles Beach residence hit its halfway vertical milestone.

In Tightening Market, Florida Developers Turn To Private Lenders

Six months ago, Eden Multifamily President and CEO Jay Jacobson would have surveyed the strong South Florida market, checked his costs and said that everything was going swimmingly. “Monday, I had an update with the contractor building our high-rise in Fort Lauderdale on pricing,” he said this morning during a Bisnow event at the W Hotel. “It’s mind-boggling, what is starting to happen.”

Serena Williams attends ground breaking for new tennis venue at Hard Rock Stadium

It’s slated to be ready for the Miami Open’s 2019 tournament Tennis superstar Serena Williams picked up a shovel for today’s ground breaking ceremony at Hard Rock Stadium, which will soon serve as the new home for the Miami Open tennis tournament. South Florida Business Journal reports that the Miami Gardens tennis venue should be ready for the March 2019 tournament. That means this month’s…

Miami commission to vote on developer incentives, Overtown apartment complex and two mixed-use projects

Miami commissioners on Thursday will consider new rules that would award developer incentives to save historic properties as part of a jam-packed zoning agenda that includes approval requests for an Overtown apartment complex adjacent to David Beckham’s soccer stadium site and two mixed-use projects near the Douglas Road Metrorail Station and on the Miami River. As luxury condos have…

Florida bills to protect affordable housing fund dead in session

Two Florida bills aiming to protect affordable housing funds from being diverted elsewhere died in a subcommittee during the Florida Legislature session. It’s the 11th consecutive year that funds from the William E. Sadowski Affordable Housing Act will be used to fill gaps in other budgets. Florida bills SB 874, sponsored by Naples Republican Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, and HB 191, sponsored by Tampa…

Big Four no more? Fidelity is buying rival Stewart for $1.2 billion

The “Big Four” title insurance players are about to become the Big Three. Industry heavyweight Fidelity National Financial has signed an agreement to buy rival Stewart Information Services Corp. for $1.2 billion in cash and stock, the company said Monday. Pending shareholder and regulatory approval, the deal could close by the second quarter of 2019. If approved, Fidelity will emerge as the nation’s…

Proof Pizza & Pasta in Midtown to close, Nathan’s Famous to open its first Miami location, more

A Midtown favorite is closing after 3.5 years. Proof Pizza & Pasta will close on Sunday, March 25, according to the restaurant’s Instagram account. Proof, at 3328 North Miami Avenue, moved to the roughly 1,700-square-foot corner space in October 2014. Chef and owner Justin Flit told the Miami New Times that “at the end of the day, we were not profitable enough to keep the…

Doral office building attracts $48 million loan

Guardian Life Insurance Company made a $48 million loan secured by One Park Square, an 11-story office building in Doral. Commercial real estate brokerage firm CBRE arranged the financing on the 281,786-square-foot building at 3470 Northwest 82nd Avenue. CBRE said in a press release that its South Florida capital markets team arranged the loan for “a Boston-based institutional advisor,” an apparent…

Jade Signature’s grand opening is today, and it’s nearly sold out    

This is the newest Sunny Isles Beach icon on “Billionaire’s Beach” Today marks the grand opening for Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron’s long-awaited Jade Signature. It’s been a long journey since the Sunny Isles Beach tower’s 2013 groundbreaking, and now Jade Signature’s 192 residences are more than 95% sold. Developed by Fortune International Group’s…

A condo project may be headed for single-family neighborhood in North Miami

The North Miami Planning Commission gave its nod to the development of a 67-unit, six-story condominium at its Wednesday meeting, paving the way for multifamily projects in a single-family neighborhood on Northeast 130th Street near West Dixie Highway. Turkish developer OZ and BF, LLC, led by Ozkan Ozcelik and Serhat Karakaya, will be developing the condominium at 840 Northeast 130th Street…

Islamorada’s Cheeca Lodge, damaged by Hurricane Irma, to reopen by end of March

Islamorada’s Cheeca Lodge & Spa will reopen on March 30 after completing $25 million in renovations and repairs spawned by Hurricane Irma. Upon reopening, the hotel, located at mile market 81.8 on Islamorada’s Old Highway, will sport a renovated lobby and spa, renovated guestrooms, and a new restaurant. Cheeca also plans to open a new pool to augment its two refurbished pools.

Look inside a sleek model home at One Bay Residences development in the Design District

Each three-level condo includes a garage and rooftop terrace One Bay Residences, a tony development of 38 luxury condominium homes, is about ready to deliver in the Design District. The homes are expected to be ready in the second quarter of 2018, and now here’s a look at One Bay Residences’ model home, designed by Addison House. The three-bedroom home is incredibly open, with a glassy staircase…

Six confirmed dead in FIU bridge collapse

The search and rescue mission has turned to a recovery  Miami-Dade police confirmed this morning that at least six people died in yesterday’s tragic bridge collapse near the campus of Florida International University. Ten others were injured and taken to the hospital, according to NBC Miami, and now the mission has turned from rescuing victims to recovery. It’s not clear why the under-construction…

New York-based Carpe Real Estate Partners pays $14 million for Wynwood site

2335 North Miami Avenue
New York-based Carpe Real Estate Partners just paid $14 million for a development site in Wynwood. David Weitz and Erik Rutter of Carpe bought the 1.65-acre site at 2335 North Miami Avenue from Goltens Miami, a marine engine repair company. It hit the market in November with an expected sale price of $16 million to $20 million, based on comparable deals. Mika Mattingly, Noa Figari and Cecilia…

EB-5 fraud scheme in Palm Beach lands development team in jail

Palm Beach developer Robert Matthews and real estate attorney Leslie R. Evans have been charged with fraud for their involvement in a real estate scam that swindled $50 million from about 50 Chinese and Iranian investors in recent years. The scam redirected EB-5 funds intended for a Palm Beach condo-hotel project at 160 Royal Palm Way, according to the Palm Beach…

Several fatalities confirmed in FIU pedestrian bridge collapse

It happened around 1:45 p.m. today A pedestrian bridge under construction near Florida International University collapsed this afternoon, 7 News Miami reports, and the Florida Highway Patrol is already reporting several people have been killed in the accident. At least four people were injured. The bridge collapsed around 1:45 p.m. at Southwest Eighth Street near 109th Avenue. Here’s an eye witness video…

See renderings of Fisher Island’s Palazzo Della Luna, which just launched sales

It’s on the island’s last waterfront parcel Take a look at the ultra-luxury boutique condominium Palazzo Della Luna, which just launched sales last week. The 10-story building will feature 50 three- to seven-bedroom waterfront residences, including a $40 million penthouse — the priciest listing ever recorded on the island. The project is led by PDS Development, LLC and veteran developer Heinrich von Hanau…

Here’s what we know about MCM, the builder of the FIU bridge that collapsed

A prominent Cuban-American, family owned construction business headed by an FIU graduate built the ill-fated pedestrian bridge that collapsed in Miami on Thursday, killing several people. Munilla Construction Management, founded more than three decades ago in Miami, had the contract for the $14.2 million bridge at Southwest 109th Avenue and Southwest Eighth Street. It collapsed just five…

Not playing around: Toys R Us to shutter all 735 US stores

The death of the once ubiquitous toy retailer Toys R Us is near, after the company announced it planned to close all of its 735 nationwide stores, ending months of efforts to salvage the iconic brand. The closures include its Babies R Us brand and come six months after filing for bankruptcy in September.  Its December effort to pull itself out of bankruptcy by closing 180 stores apparently failed to help save the…

Freshwater Group buys multifamily complex in North Miami Beach

New York investment firm Freshwater Group is set to close Thursday on a $5.9 million purchase of 51-unit apartment complex in North Miami Beach, The Real Deal has learned. The deal for the Carmel Apartments at 16700 and 16701 Northeast 21st Avenue breaks down to about $115,700 per unit. Records show the current owner, Dynamic GM LLC, paid $4.7 million for the property, or about $92,160 per…

Sonny Kahn buys neighboring Golden Beach oceanfront property for a big markdown

Billionaire developer Sonny Kahn just paid $14 million for an oceanfront teardown next to his home in Golden Beach. The 42,750-square-foot property at 115 Ocean Boulevard was originally listed for $24.9 million, which means it sold for a 44 percent discount off the asking price. It was later reduced to $19.9 million. Lucrecia Lindemann and Melissa Barragan of Dezer Platinum Realty represented the seller…

Rising construction costs challenge multifamily developers: panel

Rising construction costs are challenging the feasibility and affordability of some multifamily developments in South Florida, a panel of real estate professionals said Wednesday. “Even on jobs where we bought the land 10 years ago – which is almost free compared to what prices are now – we are having a hard time getting the numbers to work,” said Patrick Campbell, a vice president of Miami-based…

Sherry Frontenac in North Beach scores historic preservation board approval

The Sherry Frontenac, a post-war modern hotel in Miami Beach, is getting a poolside makeover. On Monday, the Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board approved a request allowing the hotel owner to build a new deck with a concrete canopy, underground parking and a rooftop dining area for the property at 6565 Collins Avenue in North Beach. S.F. Land LLC can now demolish the existing pool deck and…

Adam Kaufman, co-founder and managing director at ArborCrowd, a company that enables people to co-invest with successful real estate deal-makers in the industry, joins Michael Bull on his America’s Commercial Real Estate Show to discuss crowdfunding for commercial real estate in 2018. They discuss reasons to use crowdfunding, investor management, some benefits of using ArborCrowd, what the process for crowdfunding looks like, minimum investment amounts, various tips for investors, and ArborCrowd webinar opportunities.